Catharine A. MacKinnon is a pioneer in the field of sex equality issues and sexual harassment, recognized internationally for her role in creating ordinances that classify pornography as a civil rights violation and for her position as co-counsel in Kadic v. Karadzic, which first recognized rape as an act of genocide. She is a practicing lawyer, professor, author, and activist focused on sex equality issues, sexual harassment and pornography in national and international law. MacKinnon currently serves as the special gender advisor to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and works with Equality Now, an international NGO promoting sex equality worldwide.

MacKinnon received a JD and PhD in political science from Yale University. She is the author of the following: Are Women Human?; Women’s Lives, Men’s Laws; Sex Equality; Only Words; Feminism Unmodified; Toward a Feminist Theory of the State and Sexual Harassment of Working Women. Her lecture will investigate the social connections between prostitution and trafficking, using India as an example to view the problems and solutions to trafficking in light of current debates.

Additional sponsorship was provided by the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Law, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, the Women's Center, the Women's Gender and Studies Program, and the Department of Political Science and International Relations.